The Polish men and German women made history as the inaugural U23 world champions in 2013

Myslowice, Poland, June 6, 2014 – Myslowice will once again welcome the cream of the world’s young beach volleyball talent when it hosts the second edition of the FIVB U23 Beach Volleyball World Championships.

The inaugural tournament also took place in the southern Polish town, where Germany’s Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider won women’s gold and local favourites Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak completed their set of age-group gold medals in the men’s.

The tournament also featured a number of teams from developing beach volleyball nations such as Kenya, Rwanda and Saint Lucia.

“The FIVB Beach Volleyball U23 World Championships were introduced to last year’s beach volleyball calendar in recognition of the need to sustain and develop the sporting success of young athletes,” FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° said.

“The U23 World Championships are the highest possible level of international play available in this age group and are an important bridging event to help athletes make a successful transition between junior and senior elite competition.

“The competition reinforces the FIVB’s commitment to developing the careers and skills of beach volleyball players around the world by offering more opportunities for international play and it is not just the athletes who benefit as coaches, referees and tournament officials also have the opportunity to hone their skills through this channel.”

Poland is no stranger to hosting beach volleyball competitions and Myslowice has long been a popular venue for players and coaches alike.

Athletes are put at the forefront of the tournament to ensure that they can perform to their highest levels on the court and develop their skills to the best of their abilities.

“As with the other three age group competitions on the beach volleyball calendar this year, the U23 World Championship will also be a test event for the ‘block’ and ‘first hit’ rule,” Dr. Graça continued.

“These tests will no doubt push the skills and abilities of the players, many of who also play on the World Tour, to their limit. But I know that they have the tools to meet the challenge and exceed expectations.

“It is exciting to consider all of the talent on display at these championships and as the best young players in this age-category come together, I know that we will see some spectacular displays of strength, agility and playing tactics.

"The bar has been set high and there is no greater pleasure than seeing these up-and-coming players come into their own.”